


beyond the limit

by hamleting



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Fluff, Gen, Parallel Universes, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28801821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamleting/pseuds/hamleting
Summary: Jeno was used to working at the gas station, used to the boring, endless nights where nothing remarkable would happen. Turns out, sometimesthe remarkabletakes the form of a shiny car and a stranger in a silver jacket.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Liu Yang Yang
Comments: 36
Kudos: 108
Collections: Challenge #4 — Awaken The World





	beyond the limit

**Author's Note:**

> thanks [dyintherain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyintherain/pseuds/dyintherain) for betaing this!
> 
> and thanks [daisy_tyong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SammiCass/pseuds/daisy_tyong) for coming up with the title <3

It was a quiet night at the gas station. The clock on the wall marked a quarter to three, which meant Jeno's shift wouldn't be over for four more hours. Jeno stretched his back and yawned, turning the page of his overused copy of _The Martian Chronicles_.

The sound of crickets made the silence more bearable, at least, the night less lonely. He couldn’t even see the stars from the counter, only the deserted road and the fields that surrounded it, painted here and there by the greenish light of the lampposts.

Most nights at the station were like this. Stretching, seemingly endless nights spent chewing the hours away with his classic mint gum until it became tasteless, each shift an exact copy of the ones that had come before, and the ones that would come after. An ordinary, dull routine.

But the thing about routine was that whenever something changed, no matter how small, it made the whole structure tremble. Like when you pull a string of a spider web — the vibration expands, it reaches every cord and every being trapped in it. And that first vibration, that first pull at Jeno's spider web, happened on the most ordinary of nights.

It began with light — a flash of blue lightning that made Jeno look up from his book, followed by the screech of tires against the asphalt and the roar of an engine.

There was a car. The driver had parked messily, as if drunk or in a rush. But the car was… odd. It almost looked like the bumping cars you could find at amusement parks, with shiny purple paint and a streak of silver lightning splitting the side in two. The driver's door opened, and Jeno walked outside as someone came out.

The first thing he saw was bleached, white hair, turning purple at the ends. It belonged to a young guy, probably Jeno's age but dressed in a way Jeno had only ever seen in low-budget science fiction movies. He had a silver, holographic bomber jacket, rolled up to his elbows and matching with his silver pants, and combat boots the same color as his car. "You open?" he yelled, his brows contracting in a frown as he looked around. 

“Yeah,” Jeno said warily, “Need gas?"

"Regular _zulktraline_ , please."

“Sorry?"

"Regular _zulktraline_." The guy looked at him, unfazed. Jeno stared back. Then the guy let out a groan, "Oh, man, don't tell me I'm stuck in Q2 again."

"Uh— what?"

The guy didn't answer. He went back to his car and stuck his head through the window, looking at his console, "Freaking— useless junk!"

"Um, can I get you some water or… an aspirin? I don't think you should be driving right now."

The guy straightened up again, raised an eyebrow at him, "Right, you must think I'm a total freak."

"No, no! I just—"

"Where are we? Earth Q2-721, right?" The guy walked past him and into the shop, and Jeno followed quickly.

"Q2 _what_?”

The guy started to roam the aisles, picking up different items and reading the labels with a frown. Then he noticed the fridges at the back.

"Look, maybe you should sit down—" 

“Those are carbonated, right?” the guy interrupted, storming towards the fridges, "And can we skip the _multiverse_ explanation? This is, like, the fifth time this month."

"Huh? _"_

The guy, once again, didn't answer. He grabbed a big bottle of Coca-Cola, "I'm gonna need some spearmint." When the guy saw Jeno's confusion he let out a frustrated sound, "Artificial mint. Mint candy."

"Oh." Jeno went behind the counter and grabbed a pack of Mentos, "So, all this plus the gas?"

"No gas. Help me take this outside."

"But— _ugh_." Jeno hurried to follow him towards his car, then watched as the guy opened a lid on the trunk and started pouring the coke inside, “ _What are you doing?_ "

"Hand over the spearmint, please."

Jeno just stared at him. The guy gave him an exasperated look and took the Mentos from his hands. Jeno wondered if he was under the influence of some kind of drug, but before he could say anything the guy dropped one Mentos into the mix and closed the lid.

There was a bubbly sound, and then the car started shaking. "That should be enough to take me to another station," the guy said. He got in the car, leaving a gaping Jeno behind, "Thanks for your help!"

"Wait! You have to pay for—"

Jeno's words were drowned by the roaring engine, making him step back and cough when a cloud of smoke started coming out the escape tube. There was the screeching sound of tires as the guy drove away, then a blinding blue light — and when Jeno was able to see properly again, the car was gone.

It wasn't until the next week when Jeno saw the strange guy again. 

Jeno had started to believe the guy had been a hallucination fueled by his science fiction novels and high sugar intake until he saw him come out of his car, his silver jacket absorbing the light around him like an imploding star, his purple boots crunching against the gravel. He stopped at the door, wearing an expression that ranged between confusion and annoyance.

"You've returned," Jeno said.

"Unfortunately. It's the car, keeps doing that thing..." The guy scratched his arm nervously, "You mind if I stay here for a while? I feel like hiding from my boss."

"If you pay for what you owe, sure."

The guy winced, "Yeah, sorry about that. I really was in a hurry, and I didn't have any Q2 money on me."

"Do you have any _Q2 money_ on you this time?"

The guy nodded and approached the counter, taking out a wrinkled stack of bills from the inside of his jacket, "Traded some spare _gnarlies_ in case I ended up here again… does this cover it?"

Jeno grabbed the stack with suspicion, counted the money he owed before giving him back the rest, "Will you make your science experiment again?"

"I have to get out of here _somehow,_ right?"

"Right."

"But I wanna grab something to eat first." The guy looked around, then walked towards the aisles and grabbed a bag of chips, "Is this sweet?"

"Uh, no."

"What about this?"

"That's a sandwich." Jeno watched him pick three more salty things before stepping out of the counter. He grabbed a bag of marshmallows and gave it to him with a sigh, "What are you, like, an alien or something?"

The guy laughed, opening the bag with gleaming eyes, "Funny."

"From the future, then?"

"Even funnier." The guy squished a marshmallow between his fingers, sniffed it with curiosity before giving it a bite. He nodded, proceeded to eat two more, "Man, this stuff is amazing. Reminds me of the _yoobies_ I had back in New Epsilon."

"They actually stole the recipe from us."

"For real?"

The guy looked at him with wide eyes, and Jeno tried to repress his smile, "No, I have no idea what New Epsilon is."

"Oh, it's the worst. Real nasty citadel, if you ask me." The guy huffed and headed back outside. Jeno followed, stood by the door while the guy sat down against the wall, "I'll pay for these, don't worry. I just don't like being indoors."

"It's alright."

They stayed in silence for a while, the guy gobbling up the marshmallows at a dangerous speed. Jeno was about to go back inside when the guy spoke again, "What's your name?"

"Jeno. And you?"

"Yangyang."

"Oh. Thought it was gonna include numbers or something, that's kind of disappointing."

 _Yangyang_ huffed, "They only do that in Q5, maybe in Q17."

"What's that? Different zones?"

" _Quadrants._ " Yangyang gave him a dubious look, scratching his arm absent-mindedly, "I really shouldn't be talking about this with you, I'm kind of breaking the law just by _being_ here."

"Then why did you come back?"

"Told you, that damn thing is broken." He pointed at his purple car, parked messily like last time, "Should take me to the closest station within the legal radar, but keeps dragging me here instead."

Jeno approached it. Now that he was closer he saw the tires weren't regular ones, but had rings of blue light going all around them. "I like it."

"Thanks, it's a piece of junk."

"It really isn't." Jeno brushed his fingers along the silver lightning that ran across it, and when he retrieved them a thin layer of glitter clung to them.

Jeno helped him make the Coca-Cola mix again, and as Yangyang sped up towards the night and the bright blue light started shining, Jeno tried to keep his eyes open, and he saw just a glimpse of the world Yangyang went into, but enough to keep him wondering until their next meeting — buildings rising towards the stars and cutting through the clouds, lit up in colors unlike any Jeno had ever seen, and twisting roads suspended in mid-air with speeding cars that left blue trails of lightning behind.

Yangyang kept coming back after that, and for a while it almost felt like routine, a bit of excitement added to Jeno's endless nights at the station. It got to a point where Jeno was familiar with some of Yangyang's habits, like the way he scratched his arm whenever he was nervous.

Yangyang loved to talk about his world, or dimension, or whatever the place he came from was — but he never explained any of it, nor answered Jeno's questions directly. And Jeno got used to that, too. He played along, to the point where he almost forgot he was slowly befriending someone who didn't even live in the same plane of reality as him.

It took another out-of-the-ordinary event for Jeno to be reminded of it. 

They were sitting by the counter, sharing a bag of marshmallows, when Jeno noticed something moving underneath Yangyang's jacket. He was ready to grab an impromptu weapon to fight whatever bug had made its way there, when Yangyang's bright teeth showed in a smile.

"It's just Nana! She’s harmless," he said, taking a hand inside his jacket as he clicked his tongue. 

Jeno didn't know what he expected to see come out of there. First, he saw a pair of tiny eyes blinking at him. Then, the thing, _Nana_ , came out.

She looked exactly like a gecko lizard, small and slender and _blue,_ and she climbed on Yangyang's hand and up his arm with quick steps. Once she was on Yangyang's shoulder she noticed the marshmallow bag over the counter, and her tiny eyes flashed in interest before straight up diving towards it, as if jumping from a trampoline. Jeno reacted quickly, stretching his hands to catch her — but Nana disappeared, her blue body vanishing mid-air. Next moment, the marshmallow bag started moving, and Jeno jumped back.

“Did she just— _teleport_?” 

Yangyang just laughed, watching as Nana carried the bag all around the counter. 

“Was she in your jacket this whole time?”

“She always is.” Nana came out of the bag as she struggled to bite on a marshmallow too big for her mouth, “Only shows herself when she knows she’ll be safe. You must have passed the vibe check.”

Nana managed to chug down the marshmallow and walked to Jeno, looking up at him with big, curious eyes.

“She wants to climb you,” Yangyang said.

“ _Huh?_ ”

Yangyang stretched an open hand towards him. Jeno took it, and Yangyang lowered it to where Nana was standing.

Nana didn’t hesitate before climbing up Jeno’s arm, her quick steps making Jeno let out a shy laugh, “She’s very bold, right? Kind of like you.”

“I’m not _bold_.” Yangyang let go of Jeno’s hand to scratch his arm, then hid his hands in his sleeves. “What about you, though? You never tell me anything about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

Yangyang opened another bag of marshmallows as he thought, and Jeno felt Nana’s tiny feet on his neck as she passed from his left shoulder to his right to take a closer look at the bag. Jeno raised a hand towards her, and she climbed on it eagerly.

“Alright,” Yangyang said, “if you had one day left to live, what would you do?”

“Don’t you wanna know my favorite color?”

Yangyang threw a marshmallow at him, which Nana caught mid-air after teleporting from Jeno’s hand to his chest. Jeno rested his head on his hand, “I don’t know. Maybe drive to the country, watch the sunset on a hill, read my favorite book.”

“Alone? What about your loved ones?”

“I don’t really… I mean, I live with my uncle but he’s…" Jeno sat up, shifted on his seat, "We’re different. And it’s not a big town, so it’s kind of hard to make friends.”

“Why don't you leave, then?”

“Oh, I’m saving up to go to the city. Don’t know what I’ll do there, but it’s gotta be better than this.”

Yangyang hummed, turning a marshmallow between his fingers. Nana seemed to get tired of socializing, because she made her way back to Yangyang's jacket.

"So, my boss found out about my car," Yangyang said, looking down at the counter, "He's gonna have it fixed tomorrow."

"Oh. Wait, does that mean—"

"I came to say goodbye."

Jeno's heart dropped. He furrowed his eyebrows, "You won't be able to come back anymore?"

"I don't think so… The car thing was an accident — a glitch. It's not easy to end up in Q2 willingly." Yangyang raised his eyes at him, looked away quickly, "Man, I suck at goodbyes. I don't like this."

They stayed in silence. Jeno could hear the low buzzing of the lights and the fridges, the crickets outside, the ticking clock — he'd gotten so used to Yangyang's visits he’d forgotten those used to be the sounds that kept him company. 

"What if I go with you?" Jeno said. Yangyang gave him a look. "No, I'm serious. I don't have anything here, I just told you. I've been wanting to leave this town for the past twelve months— hell, I've been wanting to leave for _years_."

"You don't understand. You can't go there for the same reason I can't stay here." Yangyang rolled up his sleeves, revealing the big red blotches that were spreading on his skin. Jeno looked at them with a grimace, his heart sinking a bit more. So that's why he was always scratching his arms. "This is why Q2 is off limits for me, I'm not supposed to be here. It gets worse the longer I stay."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Yangyang shrugged shyly and looked away, "I liked hanging out with you."

And just like that, Yangyang was gone from Jeno’s life. It almost felt like a joke the universe was playing on him. He felt betrayed by all those science fiction stories that promised an exciting adventure for the protagonist — how was Jeno supposed to go back to normal? What had been the point of it all?

The next few months were the most monotonous Jeno had ever experienced, and the need to move to the city started to build up inside of him. But even that prospect had lost its original appeal. It wasn’t called _New Epsilon_ nor did they sell _zulktraline_ at gas stations. It didn’t have buildings soaring through the clouds, nor roads floating mid-air. And Yangyang, the only friend he’d had in years, wasn’t gonna be there.

He still moved, though, once he’d saved up enough money. He packed his few belongings, even the sci-fi novels he hadn’t touched since _the_ _Yangyang incident_ , and got a cold goodbye from his uncle before parting.

The sun was harsh on his eyes as he walked to the bus stop, and it wasn’t long before he reached inside his backpack to discover he’d forgotten his water bottle, but at least the gas station was on the way to the stop.

As he approached it he felt like an explorer landing on a deserted planet — the sun drowned everything in white, bouncing off the windows and every metallic surface, making Jeno squint and take a hand to his eyes. But then his vision got used to the light, and what he saw made him stop on his tracks.

There was a car. It was probably the shittiest car Jeno had ever seen — the paint was a dirty purple and chapped, a silver lightning made with spray paint splitting the side in half. It looked like something you’d find at an abandoned amusement park.

“ _... come on, man, I’ll pay you back! I promise!”_

Jeno snapped his attention to the inside of the shop, where the voice was coming from. He stepped inside, his vision splattered with black dots until he could see properly. And there he saw him — Yangyang. Only, it wasn’t him. His hair wasn’t bleached, and he was wearing a simple band t-shirt, no silver jacket. Jeno was so stunned he didn’t realise the guy was talking to him.

“Sorry?” Jeno said.

“Could you give me a hand? I got mugged and don’t have enough money for gas.”

Jeno nodded, still dumbfounded — felt a rush of _something_ when the guy showed him his bright smile — and paid for the gas. He almost forgot to buy his water until the guy pointed it out.

“Need a lift? I’m heading to the city,” the guy said once they were outside. Jeno looked at his arms. There were no red blotches.

“Yeah, actually. I’m heading that way, too.”

The guy fumbled with his keys when he noticed Jeno was staring at the car, “It’s a piece of junk, but it’ll take us there alright.”

“No, I— I like it.”

The guy laughed, gave him a funny look as they went inside, “You must be kind of crazy, then. We’ll get along well.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked the story! a big thanks to the A Little Wonder mods for working so hard, as always <3
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/cryojun)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/hamleting_)


End file.
